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Roasted Yellow Summer Squash with Basil Pesto or Sage-Pecan Pesto

Roasted summer squash + pesto is a delicious side dish option. Roast the squash in the toaster oven if it's too hot to use the oven. This tasty dish with squash and pesto is low-carb, gluten-free, and South Beach Diet friendly.

In Utah the weather is glorious and the garden is producing lots of squash, cucumbers, eggplants, and tomatoes. Even though I probably have one or two favorite ways of using each of these crops, I always enjoy coming up with new recipes for garden veggies each year.

This year my yellow squash has been abundant, plus I've already talked about how I have a big surplus of sage, so this weekend I made another batch of Sage-Pecan Pesto, and then tossed some of it with freshly-roasted yellow summer squash. What an easy recipe with a completely delicious result!

The sage pesto was a perfect addition to the garden-fresh flavor of the roasted squash in this dish. I'm thinking when my butternut squash is ripe (very soon!) it will also be fantastic simply roasted and tossed with the sage pesto. If you're not growing fresh sage, just toss your squash with Basil Pesto with Lemon, or even Kirkland Basil Pesto, and it will be just as good.

Vegetables from the garden are definitely dirtier than those from the store, and when I'm going to be leaving the skins on, I wash them with this handy veggie-scrubber I got from my friend Trudy. You put your hand inside the mesh mitt, and then rub the outside of the vegetables with it, easy and very effective.

I sliced the squash in 1/2 inch thick slices, and cut the bigger slices in half again to make half-moon shape pieces, then tossed them with a scant tablespoon of olive oil, a bit of salt and some fresh ground black pepper. (Of course you can make this with zucchini too, but it won't be as pretty.)

Roast the squash for 25-30 minutes at 400F, or until it's somewhat softened with a few browned edges starting to show.

Preheat oven to 400F. (I used a toaster oven to keep the house cooler.) Wash squash and cut off stem and blossom end. Cut squash into 1/2 inch slices, cutting larger slices in half so all pieces are about the same size. Toss squash pieces with 1 T olive oil and season with salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Arrange squash in single layer on a roasting pan. Roast 25-30 minutes, turning once or twice. Squash is done when pieces are starting to soften and brown slightly on the edges.

While squash cooks, put pesto in a plastic bowl big enough to hold all the squash and let it come to room temperature. When squash is done, toss with pesto and serve hot.

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you. Or if you're a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

More Roasted or Baked Squash Recipes to Try:
(Recipes from other blogs may not always be South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)

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25 comments:

I just made something similar the other night! I used yellow squash from my garden with homemade basil pesto and threw in some cherry tomatoes for good measure. I haven't made sage pesto in ages, I'll have to go harvest my little plant.

I'm lovin' your sage kick, Kalyn. I was wandering around the web last night and came on a reference to sage tea and said to myself, why not? (Maybe I should stop talking to myself.) I steeped five small fresh leaves with a wedge of lemon and added a little honey. This may just replace my nightly chamomile fix.

You know, for some reason yellow squash has been really flavorful the past couple of weeks here. I usually prefer zucchini, but this summer, it's the yellow. I love the idea of the sage-pecan pesto too. I'm getting a bit tired of basil and parsley, so it will be a nice change.

How funny, I made something really similar a few days ago too! I sauteed my veggies instead of roasting them (too hot for the oven) but next time I'll definitely try roasting. My version had an onion, a yellow squash, and 2 tomatoes, diced and sauteed in a little olive oil with salt and pepper. Then I added a can of chickpeas, turned off the heat when they were warm, and tossed it all with a few tablespoons of leftover basil pesto. It was SO GOOD! With a piece of whole-grain bread, it made a great dinner. I'm really intrigued by your sage pesto too!

The colours in this salad...pure sunshine.Can i confirm that what you call yellow summer squash is the yellow courgette? Or am I wrong? I have a lot of sage so your pesto will be prepared in my kitchen.

Michael, glad you're enjoying my sage adventures. I'll have to try some sage tea too. I have plenty of sage, that's for sure!

Susan, the yellow squash in my garden is extra good this year too. It's odd that the zucchini is not nearly as prolific.

Joanna, that sounds really good!

Valentina, yes it is yellow courgette. In the U.S. both zucchini and yellow squash are called summer squash. The yellow ones are also called "crookneck" or "straightneck" depending on whether they are curved or straight.

That sage-pecan pesto sounds like something I must make and soon! I don't think I use enough sage in my cooking, it's time to do something about that! Your blog is like a ray of sunshine to me at the moment, it's raining and cold here - the wettest September on record and we are only just over a week in!

My mom's favorite was sage. I've planted three different sage in my garden and love them because they are beautiful and they always come back in spring. I have lots growing like wild.My problem is remembering to use them. I really do enjoy it! Have to try this one.

Kalyn, is there any other South Beach Diet recipes that include Yellow summer squash? My mom just started the diet today, and I'm helping her find recipes with the vegetables that she has right now. We don't have any basil or sage right now, so I was wondering something that would usually be in the cabinets or the fridge????

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